10 Cleantech Consumer Products & Services

Some more cool cleantech consumer products or news about consumer products:

1. SunPower has released an AC solar panel series that is “designed to bring clean solar power to homes that have energy production challenges, such as shading, less-than-perfect orientation or irregular rooflines.”
2. A year-long UK study, “the largest ever field study” of solar heating systems, found that solar water heaters that cost £3,000-5,000 ($4,818-$8,030) end up saving customers and average of £55 ($88) a year — not a bad ROI.
3. “NTT DoCoMo Inc plans to release a portable household solar power system that will cost about 100,000 yen ($1,315)…. The system will consist of a small solar panel and a small-capacity storage battery and will be sold as early as next year.”
4. You can now rent the 93-mpg-equivalent (MPG-e) Chevy Volt at MPG Car Rental (in Southern California).
5. SANYO is the latest to offer a solar lease program, currently available California, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, and Hawaii, but expected to roll out in additional states over the coming months. It’s currently offering 3 options: 1) Zero Money Down, 2) 20-year Prepaid Lease, 3) Variable Upfront Payment Lease (more money up front = more savings).
6. “Sharp Electronics Corporation’s Solar Energy Solutions Group has introduced the SunSnap AC Solution, a new retail-friendly solar electric appliance designed to expand and simplify the mainstream adoption and use of solar energy for homeowners,” Sharp recently announced. “The SunSnap AC Solution is a home appliance that consists of black-on-black Sharp photovoltaic (PV) modules, making the roof installation more aesthetically pleasing, and is Enphase Energized™ with high-efficiency microinverters from Enphase Energy with a new mounting assembly from Zep Solar incorporated into the module.”
7. “The inventor of the iPod has developed a smart thermometer that can program itself based on your behavior patterns, knows when you’re not home, and optimizes temperatures to minimize energy use. The Nest Learning Thermostat, designed by Tony Fadell’s new startup, Nest Labs, uses six sensors that track temperature, motion, humidity, and ambient light to control energy consumption. Within a week, the device begins to create a schedule for heating based on the user’s habits, adjusting the heating and cooling automatically when no one is home and documenting how much energy is used each day. Using a Wi-Fi connection, the technology also tracks weather conditions and forecasts, enabling it to better monitor how outside conditions affect the user’s energy use. While it costs $249, the company says the technology, which will be available commercially in mid-November, will cut energy costs by an average of $173 per year.”
8. An EV car-sharing service, Car2Go, has opened up for membership in San Diego. The service is also available in Vancouver, Austin, Lyon (France), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany), and Ulm (Germany).
9. Dartz, a luxury armored car company, is apparently looking to launch a solar electric car (picture above) — is this for real?
10. “Changers, the company that gives people the power to transform their energy behavior, is launching the Changers System, the world’s first Social Energy Marketplace on the Web. The Changers System enables people to produce their own energy, measure how much they produce, and convert it into a currency that’s backed by the sun. Today, to jump-start all of us into independent power generators, Changers is debuting an intelligent personal solar charging kit that captures energy, records how much power it has generated, and then uploads precise metrics to the energy marketplace—Changers.com—for tracking, sharing, competing and redemption into Changers Credits.” Interesting.

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